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==Ideology==
[[File:Yemen ethno 2002.jpg|thumb|right|Ethnoreligious groups in 2002. [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidi]] [[Shia Islam|Shia]] followers make up over 42% of Muslims in Yemen.<ref>M. Izady. "[http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Yemen_Ethno_Religious_summary_lg.png Yemen:Ethno-Religious Composition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222184013/http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Yemen_Ethno_Religious_summary_lg.png |date=22 December 2017
The Houthi movement follows a mixed ideology with religious, Yemeni nationalist, and [[big tent]] populist tenets, [[Ideology of Hezbollah|imitating Hezbollah]]. Outsiders have argued that their political views are often vague, contradictory, and many of their slogans do not accurately reflect their aims. The Houthis have portrayed themselves as national resistance, defending all Yemenis from outside aggression and influences, as champions against corruption, chaos, and extremism, and as representative for the interests of marginalized tribal groups and the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidi]] sect.<ref name="wilson"/><ref name="Orkaby" /><ref name="pbs">{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/who-are-yemens-houthis |title=Who are Yemen's Houthis? |
In general, the Houthi movement has centered its belief system on the Zaydi branch of [[Islam]],<ref name="wilson"/>{{efn|The Houthis have been accused, even by many fellow Zaydis, of secretly being converts or followers of the [[Twelver]] sect, which is the official religion of Iran.<ref name="Al-Shamahi"/><ref name="Profile: Who are Yemen's Houthis">{{cite news|author1=Manuel Almeida|title=Profile: Who are Yemen's Houthis?|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/profiles/2014/10/08/Profile-Who-are-Yemen-s-Houthis-.html|access-date=2 February 2015|
[[File:Ansar Allah Logo.svg|thumb|left|Calligraphic logo of the Houthi movement reading "Oh ye who believe, be supporters of God" ([[Quran 61]]:14)<ref>{{cite web |author1=Middle East Forum |title=Harakat Ansar Allah (Yemen): Emblem |url=https://jihadintel.meforum.org/identifier/551/harakat-ansar-allah-yemen-emblem |website=jihadintel.meforum.org |access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ansar Allah |author1=Ansar Allah (Houthis) |url=https://www.ansarollah.com/ |website=ansarollah.com |access-date=15 February 2020 |language=ar}}</ref> Religious motives play an important role in the Houthi movement, though to what extent is disputed.
Although they have framed their struggle in religious terms and put great importance in their Zaydi roots, the Houthis are not an exclusively Zaydi group. In fact, they have outright rejected their portrayal by others as a faction which is purportedly only interested in Zaydi-related issues. They have not publicly advocated for the restoration of the old Zaydi [[Imams of Yemen|imamate]],<ref name="wilson"/> although analysts have argued that they might plan to restore it in the future.<ref name="nagi"/> The movement has also recruited and allied with Sunni Muslims;<ref name="refworld quote">{{Cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a09aa064.html|title=Refworld | Yemen: Treatment of Sunni Muslims by Houthis in areas under Houthi control (2014-September 2017)|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|last=Refugees|website=Refworld|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617141649/https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a09aa064.html|archive-date=17 June 2019|url-status=live|quote=[a]lthough the Huthis have widespread support among the Zaydi community, the movement also contains Sunni Muslims, [which is why] some Zaydis have denounced the Huthi movement [...] the Huthis are recruiting Yemenis of all faiths to fight for them}}</ref><ref name="wilson" /><ref name="bbc who" /><ref name="nagi" /><ref name="pbs" /> according to researcher Ahmed Nagi, several themes of the Houthi ideology "such as Muslim unity, prophetic lineages, and opposition to corruption [...] allowed the Houthis to mobilize not only northern Zaidis, but also inhabitants of predominantly Shafi'i areas."<ref name="nagi" /> However, the group is known to have discriminated against Sunni Muslims as well, closing Sunni mosques and primarily placing Zaidis in leadership positions in Houthi-controlled areas.<ref name="wilson" /><ref name="bbc who" /><ref name="refworld" /><ref name="nagi" /><ref name="pbs" /> The Houthis lost significant support among Sunni tribes after killing ex-President Saleh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/78969|title=The Houthi–Tribal Conflict in Yemen|author=Maysaa Shuja al-Deen|
The Houthis have asserted that their actions are to fight against the expansion of [[Salafi movement|Salafism]] in Yemen,<ref name="Profile: Who are Yemen's Houthis" /><ref name="nagi" /> and for the defence of their community from discrimination, whereas their opponents have argued that they desire to institute Zaidi religious law,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7379929.stm|title=Deadly blast strikes Yemen mosque|date=2 May 2008|access-date=11 November 2009|
As a result of their strong support among the northern tribes, the Houthis have also been described as tribalist faction in opposition to republicanism. Regardless, they have managed to rally many people outside of their traditional bases to their cause, and became a major nationalist force.<ref name="Orkaby" /> When armed conflict for the first time erupted back in 2004 between the Yemeni government and Houthis, the President Ali Abdullah Saleh accused the Houthis and other Islamic opposition parties of trying to overthrow the government and the republican system. However, Houthi leaders, for their part, rejected the accusation by saying that they had never rejected the president or the republican system, but were only defending themselves against government attacks on their community.<ref name="arrabyee-2005">{{cite news| first=Nasser| last=Arrabyee| title=Rebellion continues| url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/743/re10.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051024172005/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/743/re10.htm| url-status=dead| archive-date=24 October 2005| work=[[Al-Ahram Weekly]]| date=25 May 2005| access-date=11 April 2007 }}</ref> The Houthis have an ambivalent stance on the possible transformation of Yemen into a federation or the separation into two fully independent countries to solve the country's crisis. Though not opposed to these plans ''per se'', they have declined any plans which would in their eyes marginalize the northern tribes politically.<ref name="wilson"/><ref name="nagi"/>
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